Waking Up
by PeridotYoshi
Summary: "So many years, so many bad memories…" With Toontown's revival, comes a shocking discovery. As Sir Max attempts to convince Lily to keep all history from the previous town, to herself, one revelation leaves the only one who lived past the original Toontown, completely dead inside. Another side-story for upcoming fanfic: Rewritten


A blue duck padded silently amongst a field of gray grass and bare, leafless trees. He stared ahead, looking at a giant pile of rubble, past a nearly-nonexistent gate. That would take a while to fix, wouldn't it? And they didn't even like the Cogs… It was hard on all of them, piecing Toontown back together. However, it was _their_ game, now, and they had to restore it to its fullest, which meant that they even had to bring back those Cogs. The Trolley Cogs had done well so far, but how to code for all the others…? He brushed his thoughts aside, starting forward to look closer at the damage. He sighed. All of Bossbot HQ was in ruins, and it didn't look fixable. But, they would have to try. He pulled aside one hunk of dark bricks, only to spot a tuft of unkempt gray-lavender fur. The duck gasped, tearing his hands through the debris and finding a little lavender cat, alive, but unconscious.

"Oh, my Walt," he whispered to himself.

XXX

Months later, the same lavender feline opened her eyes to bright lights. She quickly shut her eyes again, blinking several times as she tried to adjust to the light she was met with. _Where am I?_ She wondered to herself, sitting up. She winced slightly as a surge of pain erupted from… _everywhere_. She looked around. It almost looked like Toon HQ, but… No, it _couldn't_ be! Toontown was closed! This _had_ to be a dream! But then again, she typically didn't feel pain this _real_ , when she was dreaming…

"You're awake," someone quacked nearby, and the feline's head immediately shot around to face the source of the voice.

"Where am I? What happened?" She asked in a rush.

"You're in Toontown, where do you think you are?" the blue duck replied with a laugh. "As for what happened, I was hoping _you_ could shed some light on that part." The cat thought back, remembering what had happened, and how horrible it all was. Now she knew why she felt so sore…

"The Cogs captured us, right when Toontown closed," she explained. "Then when the darkness came… It caved in the ceiling, but it wouldn't kill me for some reason… I eventually gave up on letting the darkness kill me, and forced myself into a coma… Then I woke up here. How much time has passed?"

"I'm not entirely sure, maybe a few months?" the duck shrugged. "The name's McQuack, by the way."

"I'm Lily," she replied. "I thought Toontown had closed forever… What changed?"

"Us being here," McQuack responded. "We're rebuilding Toontown from the ground up. We couldn't just let it all fade away into nothing more than a shadow of a childhood memory. I see now that there was a reason we were meant to come back."

Lily smiled slightly at the duck's kindness, dropping her gaze to the floor.

"I'm… grateful you did… Thank you," Lily thanked, at a loss for words. Then another thought occurred to her, one that made her shudder with the possibility of such a thought; the thought that… maybe Ladybug hadn't survived… She looked up at McQuack suddenly, worry showing vividly in her dark eyes, "Where's Ladybug?" The duck tilted his head in confusion at that question.

"Ladybug?"

"My friend, Ladybug Gigglehopper," Lily clarified. McQuack shrugged.

"I dunno. You were the only one I found in the rubble," he quacked with a shrug of his royal-blue-feathered shoulders. Lily tossed the blankets aside, not caring what the duck had to say as he attempted to convince her to lay back down. The purple feline was dedicated to her friends, and she refused to let a mere coma stop her from seeing the one Toon that mattered most to her. Her muscles still sore, and vision still a bit fuzzy, she stomped towards the door, opening it to come face-to-face with a cheery green dog, who seemed to be expecting her.

"So, you're the only survivor of the original game, huh?" Sir Max asked, even though it seemed he already knew the answer. Lily simply nodded her head, even though she had no clue whether Ladybug had survived, or not. "TTO-SA20, correct?"

"Are you one of the higher-ups?" Lily asked, confused how he could know about the organization. Usually, officials of the TSAL would identify themselves before speaking about anything relating to the agency, especially in public. The green dog chuckled.

"Not exactly. The name's Sir Max, and I'm the leader of the team spearheading development of Toontown Rewritten," the green dog introduced himself. Lily tilted her head slightly, observing that this Toon before her was quite young to be so set on rebuilding an entire town.

"How… old are you, exactly?" she could not refrain from asking.

"16," Sir Max replied.

"A 16-year-old Toon in charge of Toontown, rather than a corporation of Cogs pulling the strings… Sounds good to me!" Lily smiled kindly at the dog.

"That's what I like to hear!" Sir Max cheered, slapping a hand on the cat's shoulder. Lily's ears perked up. Happiness of this magnitude was something she hadn't felt since she was captured by the Cogs all that time ago. How long had it been, anyway? Several months? A year? Several years? It was impossible to tell, since that dingy little dungeon cell was just as dark as the sky above Bossbot HQ was. And then, to be savagely beaten up by those Cogs in those final moments before the darkness won over the town; She was lucky she was even still alive after that, and to be just as happy as she had been when she lived in Toontown, before. This happiness seemed well-deserved, and if the Cogs had been wiped out, that meant that there could finally be peace after all that had happened. That was the next thing to ask.

"So, have the Cogs been destroyed?" Lily inquired eagerly.

Sir Max nodded, "Yes, that have, though while that's well and good, there's really no point in the game unless they exist." Lily's ears drooped, eyebrows furrowing.

"Is peace not enough? Must there be continuous war?" The lavender feline questioned. "And you should know that when the Cogs return, so will the TTCS. I don't think I could live with myself if they came back."

"…That's right… Weren't you Alpha1 at some point?" Sir Max said suddenly. Lily's dark eyes widened, before narrowing into a sharp glare.

"Okay, that does it! Who are you, _really_?" Lily growled. "You know I'm part of the Toon Secret Agent Legion, and that makes some sense, since I'm still one of their dedicated agents, but Cog Spies was a past life that I left behind so I could support the harbingers of fun and laughs. That was probably years ago, how would you know that?"

"Trade secret," Sir Max chuckled. "Though I will say, no matter what path you choose, you're great as both a Toon agent, and a Cog spy." The dog's eyes suddenly became very distant, before he smiled broadly, seemingly to himself.

"Oh my Walt, you have a voice in your head, too," Lily groaned, only further reminded of her best friend's antics. She wondered how many Toons had voices in their heads, that she didn't know about.

"That's Joey," Sir Max explained. "He's sorta like me, but at the same time, we're both sorta different, even though we're technically the same person. It's… complicated."

"My friend Ladybug told me about the voice in her head, which she came to call 'Laura' by the end of Toontown," Lily stated. "And BOY, did those two _talk_. She would just burst out laughing at random, and she eventually told me the cause. I always though she was the only one."

"There are more than you would think, though they're usually a lot better at hiding it," the green dog explained. "As for myself, I don't feel as though there's a lot at stake right now, seeing as Toontown Rewritten is just barely in alpha, and one would have to earn a special key to be allowed in." Sir Max briefly glanced out the door, before turning back to Lily. "Listen, I've got a lot more to do to get set up. We _do_ have elections going on, after all. It was nice seeing you!" And with that, Sir Max spun around and jogged out of the doorway.

"He's pretty spry," Lily observed, once he was out of earshot.

"Yep, that's Sir Max, for you," McQuack replied. "He's a good kid. Reviving Toontown was _his_ idea, after all. Just came to us when Toontown was announced to close, and said that we had to bring it back. He's a natural-born leader, really."

"He reminds me of Ladybug," Lily muttered softly, longing for the past. Why had she let Ladybug lead her into that two-Toon four-story building in Donald's Dreamland? Why… hadn't she listened to her instincts and just ignored the building and moved on? It was the thing any normal Toon would've done. But then again, maybe that was okay. Any normal Toon would've grieved and moved on, after Toontown closed, and yet, Sir Max decided to fight back against the norm. It was the same basic principle at work. Ladybug was never like the rest; she was eccentric, funny, crazy at times, and she never seemed to want to follow the rules. She always had other plans in-mind.

Lily shook her head of her thoughts, stepping outside, eyes trailing upwards towards the first daylight she'd seen in years. A small smile started across her tan-furred lips. Faded mauve fur returned to its original hue, that of a vibrant lavender that shone brightly in the sun. Dust-ridden and tattered gloves and clothing repaired themselves, the colors once dampened by soil, bursting free. Toontown had, indeed, been reborn again, and Lily along with it.

It felt as though it had never gone away. _Ten years ago, Toontown was alive, bright, and beautiful, and ten years from now, it would still be alive, bright, and beautiful._ A crisp wind ruffled her fur, snaking through each tuft of lavender, just as it did through the leaves of the trees and the grass upon the ground, each swaying in-tune. Everything around her was just… alive. It was just as it had always been.

Dark eyes snapped to attention as a hot air balloon floated through the sky. _That's different,_ she thought to herself, taking notice of the two campaign booths set up nearby, one just beside her shaped kind of like a jellybean jar, aside from the fact that it was green-striped, and had two arms with gloved hands on the ends, one hand holding an actual jellybean jar, the other one holding a sign with the words 'Jump for Joy? Why not Jellybeans? Don't be Wacky, Vote for Slappy'. The face of a sea green duck was just beside the slogan, one that, frankly, hurt Lily to read. _Firstly, Toons are supposed to be wacky,_ she mused with a snarl. _Secondly, that's the cheesiest thing I've ever heard._

The other booth was of a more cube shape, colored orange with a couple red stripes, seeming strikingly familiar. The two arms on this booth held a wheelbarrow of pies, and another sign, reading 'Clobber the Competition! Flip for Flippy at the Election' just beside an image of a light blue dog's face. _Election? What's going on, here? Everyone knows Flippy's the president of Toontown!_ A gloved hand wrapped roughly around her arm, pulling her behind the Toon HQ, away from sight. Lily snatched her arm away, whirling around to come face-to-face with Sir Max.

"Just listen to me, alright?" He started, before Lily could say anything. Lily gave him a wary look. "You see, Toontown's starting over from the beginning. You need to keep every last one of your memories a secret. Especially those concerning what the town looked like after the darkness hit. I'm not sure even _I_ can handle having such images tucked away in the darkest recesses of my soul."

"Wait, so I can't tell anyone anything about the previous game? Why?"

"Toons… just won't understand. Trust me, you need to pretend to be as new in this town as everyone else." Lily sighed. From the tone in his voice, Lily could tell Sir Max wasn't joking around. He must've seen something that she hadn't since she had been locked away when Toontown closed. And if that was the case, both he and Ladybug must've seen the same thing. But that led to more questions burning in her mind, ones that she would have to ask Ladybug, personally. _Wait… Where's Ladybug?_ The question arose above all others. _She was right next to me, before… What happened to her?_ Lily glanced up at Sir Max.

"Where _is_ Ladybug, anyway?" Lily asked. The green dog's eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement. "Ladybug was right next to me, when the ceiling caved in. What happened to her?" Sir Max nodded.

"You were the only survivor of the darkness. The rubble may have fallen on you and shielded you from the darkness, but Ladybug didn't have that same luck. She's… dead." Lily didn't acknowledge it at the time, but as Sir Max spoke these words, in his eyes was a strange glint, something she couldn't quite place. It looked almost… secretive… Like he was trying to cover something up. But at the moment, Lily was too shocked by the sudden news to notice.

"N-No…" Lily muttered quietly, eyes swimming in tears of disbelief. "I… I failed…" Lavender eyelids squeezed shut as Lily fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face. "I'd just gotten her back… And… My one mission… I was supposed to protect her… It should've been me that died, not her…"

Sir Max heaved a sigh. _And she was such a good Toon, too_ , he thought. Ignoring Lily, the green dog left the small, lavender feline to grieve, stepping back out in the open to continue debugging and preparing for the Doomsday he knew was coming.

 _Keep my memories a secret, yeah right_ , Lily thought to herself, seething anger bubbling up to cover her sadness. _Beneath the happy exterior, Toontown is a dark place. It was my capture that allowed me to see that, before anyone else. I could never tell anyone, before. Now… Now that Ladybug's gone, the only person that made living worthwhile isn't even there for me anymore. And Sir Max wants me to not only keep every dark memory sealed away in my memory stores, haunting me for the rest of my days, but… He also plans to bring back those Walt-forsaken robot monsters… Why… Why, even in a time that should be of great celebration for Toontown's return, for me to finally be allowed to truly live again, must they shove this sadness on my shoulders? Maybe I can't stop them, but I'm sure as heck gonna keep pushing those Cog bosses until they break for good. And the cause of all this… The Chairman, they call him… Yes, I will find him, too… and I will. Make. Him. Pay._

* * *

Phew, glad that's over; I got Lily crying and swearing revenge while 'Arms of the Angel' plays on loop in my head. Y'know, that song that the abused animal PSA's play while they show dogs and cats staring at the camera? Those commercials drive me crazy. And this short story marks the end of the 'Toontown's Closing' Stories, meaning that I can begin to upload Rewritten whenever I please… I said whenever _I_ please. And that means not for a super long time. Where I am right now, I haven't even gotten Ladybug out of TTC, yet. And lemme tell you, Lily's kicking butt, elsewhere, so she's not gonna make an appearance for a while, so I have to stick to the stupid TTC starter tasks when Ladybug's already a pro at fighting Cogs. ARGH. This story is the reason for most of my writer's block during the past few… months. Wait, are you serious, I haven't been writing much Rewritten for about half a year, now? Well, bike horns! I think I might just have to fix that!

My ranting aside, though, I got the bright idea a while back to write from more Lily's perspective, around the time that she was recovered from the rubble that fell on her… Okay, that also needs some explaining. See, my original concept was for Lily to just sorta… be there, without any purpose, other than to watch Ladybug on occasion, and fight some Cogs behind the scenes. She was never going to have a major role in the story. But then, childhood memories came a-racing back, and I remembered how much I adored Lily for the short time I knew her in-game. I wanted her to have a bigger role in the story. Soon, she became a secondary main character, who also has unique abilities like Ladybug, for reasons I'd rather not go into. Most of what happens in-between the 'Toontown's Closing' Stories is already fleshed out, though all of that will be covered in Rewritten, in the form of flashbacks, rather than their own short story. I also want to take a second to point out the part where Lily steps outside, and thinks _Ten years ago, Toontown was alive, bright, and beautiful, and ten years from now, it would still be alive, bright, and beautiful._ That's a direct quote from my last Rewritten side story, as well as a subtle nod to something revealed in Chapter 14, that again, I will not get into.

This has also helped me clear up a bit of my writer's block for Rewritten, so I'm gonna go on writing more of that, very soon.


End file.
